


Perilous Journey

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Final Fantasy X, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Crossover, Final Fantasy Universe with Madoka Magica Characters, Mash-up, Merging of Worlds, Mixed Characters, Multi, Pilgrimage, Role Swaps, Summoning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 23:49:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4039372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Homura is ready to set out on her journey accompanying her young friend, Summoner Madoka. She is a bit doubtful about the outcome of the journey, but she will face it regardless.</p><p>(This is a crossover, with mashed up characters taking up roles usually played by other characters. I found the idea intriguing, and wanted to try it out with this specific crossover/mash-up scenario.)</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Perilous Journey

“Homura, get up already.” Madoka chuckled quietly and shook Homura’s shoulder. “You’ve overslept again. We are supposed to leave for Kilika Island today, don’t you remember?”

Homura sighed quietly and slowly straightened up. The black mage rubbed her eyes and looked up at Madoka, who already was fully dressed in her summoner garb. Right… they were supposed to leave on the journey today, and she had been one of those pressing for an early leave. But last night, she had really hit the bottle a little too hard. Homura yawned and staggered to her feet. “Are the others awake yet?”

“Kyouko already set out to train a little. She wanted to make sure that she picked everything up from the fiends around the island. After all, she never can have enough techniques of the fiends for her battles against them.” Madoka gently detangled some of Homura’s thin braids, and helped her with the hair needles. “There we go. Mami and Sayaka are training with their blitzball already. I was surprised you didn’t wake up from Sayaka complaining that Mami was cheating again with her quick fingers, as she said it.”

Homura couldn’t help a chuckle now. It was typical of the two of them to quarrel at any given time. She sighed quietly and wiped her eyes a little, then looked up at Madoka again. “Are you sure that you can do this journey now? It won’t be easy.”

Madoka smiled, squeezing Homura’s hands. “I didn’t choose this path because it was easy. Now come on. We shouldn’t keep the others waiting.”

Homura sighed and adjusted the belts of her dress before she left the house with Madoka. It was a clear, sunny day on Besaid Island, the ocean gentle in the breeze that came up to them. Homura smiled to herself, nodding softly. This was just a perfect day to set out for Kilika Island. The boat tour would be rather calm, from the looks of it, and if they made it to Kilika and then to the mainland, they wouldn’t be on a too tight schedule.

It was also reassuring that Sin hadn’t been seen in quite some time. The unsettling sight of even the far away destruction this monstrous creature left behind in its wake was more than just a little unsettling. It was a warning that it could happen at any time, and in any way possible. This was just what kept them on their toes, and summoners like Madoka well occupied. They had to always make sure that they maintained a calm, even happy demeanor, so that the people wouldn’t fall into despair even in such hard times.

Homura squeezed her Cactuar doll close to herself, shuddering lightly in the breeze. She honest to the Gods hoped that this would be her last journey as a guardian. She had already gone on this journey before, had followed the summoners trying to conquer Sin. She had seen them all fail, invariably, and she didn’t think that she could do this for much longer. Of course, she had built up quite the reputation, and her black magic was near unmatched, but she still would have much preferred if the eternal cycle of setting out, failing, and coming back in shame would finally stop.

The way to the port already was a bit troublesome. Fiends roamed about anywhere these days. Only the cities and small villages were safe from them, because there usually was an assortment of summoners and guardians keeping the fiends at bay. But the sheer number of them was more than just a little worrying. Homura had never seen such a high number before, but she knew that they couldn’t be bothered to be kept up with that. She had to make sure that Madoka would safely reach the end of her journey, and if it already would be too difficult so early on, they better not travel on, unless they wanted to fail without a doubt. They had to show strength from the very beginning.

But from what Homura could see, they were in formidable shape today. Sayaka and Kyouko proved to be as hyper as about ever, and Mami was there to keep their heads cool for the moment. Madoka had just received her first Aeon, Valefor, who also proved to be a more than just formidable ally. On the whole, Homura had the impression that they had a very good start. So there was hoping this would keep happening, and not just fade out fairly soon.

Homura watched as her friends joked and fooled around, and she smiled lightly. The sight was adorable, and somehow sad at the same time. She had gotten used to good-byes, but that didn’t mean that they had become any easier. There always was something final about them. But there was no question that they could return to Besaid at any time to catch some rest. There just was the fact that at some point, they would have to reach Zanarkand, regardless of how they travelled about Spira, and then, there would be the Final Aeon, to wipe Sin from this world, if only for the short period of the Calm.

But there was this wish, burning deeply inside of her. She wanted the Calm to be eternal, ever-lasting. She didn’t want Sin to return. But she knew that there would be no real peace as long as they hadn’t atoned for the past. It was a harsh reality, but there at least was comfort in the thought that they had a fair shot at hope with the summoners that set out to defeat Sin, no matter how often this creature would return.

“There it is.” Kyouko grinned to herself. “The port is in view. We just have to beat up some more fiends on the way, knowing our rotten luck. We really seem to attract those beasts by the dozens.”

“Not that it is all that bad.” Sayaka stretched and nodded to herself. “It means we can send more of them to the Farplane, and it means that there won’t be even more fiends to roam the lands. If we didn’t send them to the Farplane, they would just cause more and more harm. It’s reassuring, in a way.”

Homura sighed quietly, but didn’t join in on the bickering about what they were actually doing to the fiends. If it was just defeating them temporarily, or for good, with sending them far away from where they could actually do any harm. It was pointless to argue about it, at least in her eyes. The fiends had, at some point, been living beings. Beings that had grown jealous of the people still alive, and now sought to harm them. They were doing their best to keep them at bay, but unless a summoner was directly involved, they were only ever warded off temporarily. It was a chaotic world, and the summoners brought some order the people desperately needed. But on the whole, Homura saw that even just the presence of a summoner could do wonders for the morale and the outlook of people on life.

“It will really happen now, won’t it.” Madoka looked back towards the village, shuddering lightly and hugging herself. “It will happen. We will set out for this journey, and we probably won’t come back to Besaid for a long time.”

Homura wrapped one arm around Madoka’s shoulders and squeezed her gently. “That will happen, yes. But we can still return here when you feel like you need a break from your journey. I won’t blame you if you need one. It will be a long way to Zanarkand, and it won’t go without the one or other hitch.”

Madoka smiled gently. “I know, Homura. You said yourself that you have accompanied a couple of summoners before, and that it’s not always the full journey.”

Homura smiled, but it was strained this time. Madoka didn’t ask about it, though, so Homura just assumed that Madoka hadn’t fully realized what had gone on in her mind right now. Homura had accompanied a couple of summoners before, that much was true. But she never had seen the end of the journey. She never had been to Zanarkand, to witness how the Final Aeon was born from old Yevonite rites. And she had never seen how the summoner actually battled Sin then, with the Final Aeon at her call and lashing out against Sin.

As they boarded the ferry to Kilika Island, Homura felt uneasy about how this all was going down. She had a nagging feeling that this would become a disaster at some point, and that it would come crashing down on her once again. Homura swallowed thickly and just tried to remain calm. They hadn’t even left their first port to set out on the true pilgrimage, and she already was having a hard time to control her nerves. This was pathetic. Homura scolded herself for focusing too much on what had gone wrong in the past. She really shouldn’t let that keep her up. And still, she was feeling as though she hadn’t got it in her to go on yet another journey that would fail at some point.

“Homura, are you alright?” Mami had come up to her, worry in her eyes. Homura nodded faintly, but she couldn’t really fool Mami into believing her weak defense. “I know that something is bugging you. You have that expression in your eyes. You want to get out of here already, don’t you?” Homura sighed quietly, then allowed herself to lean against Mami. “You worry about Madoka, don’t you.”

“It’s just hard to think that she will be leaving on this pilgrimage. I know, it sounds strange, seeing that I accompany her as a friend and guardian all the same, but I can’t help it. I just can’t help the feeling that it all might just go terribly wrong. And this is what is so unnerving to me. Madoka is a strong person, but there is just this gut feeling that there will be something going horribly, horribly wrong.”

“Homura…” Mami gently stroke across her head, hugging her close to her chest. “Calm your thoughts. This will not be a suicide journey, you know? It will become one of the greatest journeys any of us had ever undertaken. We will get to know every part of Spira, and we will have a great time. That is my conviction. You will see, we will get Madoka to her destination, and we’ll make sure that she is safe all along the way.”

Homura nodded softly, then relaxed, finally. It would without a doubt be a long pilgrimage, with many dangers ahead of them, but they could master them. They could make sure that Madoka would reach her destination, and fulfill her destiny as a summoner. The thought was not as comforting as she had hoped it to be, but at least, it relieved her of much of the unrest she felt in her chest. Maybe, she really was just overreacting. This could actually become a wonderful way of exploring their vast world. Of course, they had a duty, but until then, they would make the most of it, no matter how dangerous it would become in the long run. There was no doubt in her mind that it wouldn’t always be a light-hearted, easy journey ahead of them.

But there they were. Ready as they could be to tackle what was ahead of them.

 

 


End file.
